


Vitality Side Stories

by ManaBanana



Series: Vitality [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Dance, Alternate Universe - Theatre, Drunk Shenanigans, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21634057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ManaBanana/pseuds/ManaBanana
Summary: A set of oneshots within the Vitality verse that will be sporadically updated, edited, and eventually placed in chronological order.//Late posting for Rock Lee's birthday (sorry buddy)
Relationships: Gaara/Rock Lee, Haruno Sakura/Yamanaka Ino
Series: Vitality [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559329
Comments: 14
Kudos: 57





	Vitality Side Stories

**Author's Note:**

> Vitality was not supposed to be a series... and yet... I did too much worldbuilding and now if y'all wanted more, I'm here to deliver (every once in awhile).
> 
> This was meant to be posted on Lee's actual birthday but my life got stupid busy and this ended up being way longer than I expected. Oh well lol.
> 
> Side note: Lee gets drunk in this, but there are no direct parallels to the Drunken Fist. He's more of the sappy, hyperemotional drunk who just wants everyone to know how much he loves them. He's still slightly chaotic though.

"You… _want_ to go out drinking for your birthday?"

"I do!" Lee answered enthusiastically. Gaara could imagine him sticking his fist up in the air while he spoke through the phone. "This is my last year in college and I want to do something big with all of my friends!"

Gaara scrunched up his nose at the suggestion. He hadn't drank since the notorious cast party and certainly had no intentions to do so now. Unfortunately that meant Naruto would volunteer him to be the group's designated driver, and supervising a bunch of drunk college students while driving was definitely not at the top of his list.

Gaara clicked his tongue. Surely there was a way out of this. He shifted the phone to his other ear as he put the play script he had been reading back on his desk. 

"You're sure you wouldn't rather just go to dinner and then maybe you and I can split off, go back to your apartment, and… you know--"

"Gaara!" Lee shouted, flustered even at the mere implication of doing dirty things in _private_.

"I'm just saying," Gaara continued nonchalantly, tapping a pencil against his desk as he sat back. "But it's your birthday, we can do whatever you like."

"Are you sure?"

Truthfully Gaara would much rather go on a more pricey date with Lee, walk around downtown, buy him a gift from the dance store, and go back to Lee's apartment where the two of them could "bang one out," as Naruto would crudely suggest. But once Lee set his mind on something, it was hard to convince him to do anything else.

"Yes," Gaara conceded with a small sigh. "Now, do you want to tell Naruto or should I?"

"I will!" Lee announced to no one in particular, always his excited self. "I think he would have a lot of good ideas for the celebration! I think it will be a lot of fun!"

Gaara smiled.

"I think so, too," he agreed. A short silence passed between them and a quick glance at the time told Gaara he only had an hour before his roommate would be home to bring in his personal flurry of distractions. "Alright, I have some homework to finish up and I'd like to get ahead this weekend so I can spend as much of your birthday with you as I can."

"Okay! I need to talk to Gai-sensei about my thesis anyway. I just thought I'd call you since I haven't seen you in awhile," Lee grinned.

"I was just there last night," Gaara pointed out with a smirk, which likely got him an indignant roll of the eyes from his boyfriend.

"I know, but am I not allowed to miss you?" Lee asked softly. There was a small grin in his voice.

"I miss you, too."

Lee let out a tiny squeal as he laughed. Though they'd been dating for nearly six months, hearing Gaara even suggest that he loved or missed Lee still made him positively giddy. A small part of Gaara hoped he'd never grow out of that.

"M'kay, I'll let you go now, sweetie," Lee said. "I hope you get lots of work done! I love you!"

"I love you, too. Talk to you soon."

"Okay! Bye!"

"Bye."

Gaara hung up the phone and shook his head. The mere thought of Lee being drunk made Gaara's head spin. He was excitable enough as is, so what was alcohol going to do?

Guess he'd just have to find out…

Since the semester was coming to a rapid close, most of Gaara's weekend was spent knee-deep in exam preparations. There were few benefits to his being a double major, but it certainly made him appreciate the breaks in between a little bit more. Especially this winter, where Lee would be accompanying him home to formally meet Kankuro and Temari. The thought alone was probably more exciting than it really should have been, but Gaara was slowly learning to give in to feeling happy about the goings-on in his life. Unfortunately there was little time for that while he was trying to balance all his classes.

But a few days later, when he went to pick Lee up from the dance studio, Gaara was back to feeling his best and relishing the time he had to spend with his boyfriend.

Lee opened the door to the passenger's seat and slipped inside, quickly tossing his bag to the floor and leaning across the seat to give Gaara a kiss.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," Gaara echoed, smiling softly. He lightly pressed a hand to Lee's cheek and grazed his thumb against the soft skin.

"Thanks for picking me up," Lee said. "Tonight is going to be really exciting!"

"I think so, too." Gaara made his way out of the parking lot and onto the main road in the direction of his home. "Although it seems strange to celebrate your birthday the day before you actually turn twenty-one."

"I mean, true. But Naruto mentioned something about celebrating right at midnight and I thought it could be kind of fun."

Perhaps the red light they hit had snuck up on Gaara because he hit the brakes a lot harder than he intended.

"We're not going out until _midnight_?"

"Well… yes." Lee looked away, uncertain. Now that Gaara knew him better, he was much easier to read and right now he seemed just about ready to cancel all of their plans and call it an early night for Gaara's comfort and convenience. "Sorry, I thought I told you, I--"

"No, no, Lee--hey. Look, it's alright. I just didn't know that we'd be out so late," Gaara said. He placed a reassuring hand on Lee's thigh. "But I'm glad I can spend tonight with you."

He looked over and was met with a warm smile just as Lee threaded his fingers between Gaara's.

"Me, too."

They spent the rest of the car ride in a comfortable silence. Since it was well into the night, there was already music blasting by the time they pulled up to the house and Gaara could already feel the tension building in his frame knowing there would be a ton of people around.

"Do you want me to go with you to your room for the pre-game?" Lee asked quietly. He dropped a hand on Gaara's shoulder and squeezed. "If you want to take a nap or decompress, I can be with you."

"No, I'll be okay. Let's go, everyone's waiting to see you."

They unbuckled their seatbelts and walked toward the doorway, Lee's hand gently guiding Gaara by the small of his back. An expectant Naruto threw the door open, followed by a too-loud screech he threw over his shoulder:

"You guys, it's Leeeee!!"

The room went into a cacophonous uproar as other theater students started crowding around Lee and almost too-enthusiastically wishing him a happy (early) birthday.

Naruto peered between Gaara and Lee, then slung his arms across their shoulders, practically making them carry all of his weight. He wasn't even completely drunk yet and Gaara already knew he was in for a wild night.

"Leeee," Naruto dragged out. "We gotta getcha drunk stat. Take this."

"I am perfectly fine!" Lee replied, turning his nose away from the half-empty bottle in Naruto's hand. "I will not start drinking until I am exactly twenty-one!"

"Pfft, whatever you say, dude," Naruto mumbled, hooking his arm around Gaara's neck so he could take a sloppy swig of the drink in his hand, much to Gaara's dismay; a few drops landed on his shirt.

The pre-game was chock-full of Theater and Dance majors, who all somehow seemed to know Lee. Everyone told him happy birthday, a few gave him gifts (mostly comprised of various types of cheap alcohol), and others made jokes about "birthday sex," which did nothing but make Gaara roll his eyes and cause Lee's cheeks to color a nice tomato red.

Anxious as he was, Gaara stayed with Lee while the party went on and people flooded in and out, drinking, talking, listening to music, and just generally having a good time. Naruto stood on door duty with Shikamaru and Choji, who spent a considerable amount of time shouting, smoking weed, and just generally being obnoxious. Gaara rested his cheek against Lee's shoulder and let out a soft groan. Every once in awhile, there would be a small shift as Lee interrupted himself mid-conversation with someone so he could lean over and kiss the top of Gaara's head.

There was a loud knock at the door, which could more accurately be likened to a kick. Gaara craned his neck as best he could without having to leave Lee's shoulder to see Neji and Tenten roll through with what looked like a piece of painted cardboard.  
Lee was practically vibrating with excitement once his two best friends stepped through the door, but he turned to Gaara before sprinting off in the other direction.

"You okay, love?"

Gaara nodded as he lifted his head.

"M'kay. Well, if you need to take a break, let me know, okay?" He pressed a warm kiss to Gaara's forehead. "I will be right back."

Lee rushed over at lightning speed to whirl Tenten around and attempt to lift Neji, who just wasn't having it. From a distance, Gaara smiled as he watched them hand the sign off and proceed to explain something he couldn't hear over the music. But he could see Lee's name in a bold font on the front in pink, purple, and blue letters.

The music turned down slightly and Naruto stood on top of the table in the middle of the living room to yell at the room.

"Y'all better sign Lee's freakin' sign!" he said.

"Sign _this_!" Shikamaru said just in time for everyone to look over and see him flip Naruto off.

"Eat my ass, Nara!" Naruto countered as he leapt off the table. 

Shikamaru's response was drowned by the sound of the music cranking back up, but Gaara was pretty sure it was something along the lines of "Maybe I will."

"Hey, you!" said a familiar voice.

Gaara looked up to see Tenten and Neji towering over him from where he was sitting. Tenten leaned down to give Gaara a quick one-armed hug and Neji waved a hand in silent greeting.

"Are you _super_ excited for tonight?" Tenten asked with a slight hint of sarcasm. "I hear your DD-ing."

"I am," Gaara replied.

"Well, hey, me and Neji can keep you company!" She slapped a hand to Gaara's shoulder. "We won't be drinking… that much… We promised Lee we'd let him take his first shot with us, but we won't spiral out of control."

"We also might call it an early night," Neji added as he checked the state of his hair through his phone's camera. "I have an eight a.m. and one of the bars we're hitting is close to our apartment."

He clicked the lock screen and pocketed the device.

Gaara squinted as he processed what exactly Neji had said.

"What do you mean one of the bars…?"

Neji and Tenten exchanged looks.

"Gaara, you've never heard of a bar crawl, have you?" Tenten grinned just as Gaara shook his head. She took Lee's seat and proceeded to explain. "We basically just go bar-hopping all night. That's what the sign over there is for." She gestured toward the couch where Sakura and Ino were sitting and writing on the back of the sign with colorful pens. "There's a list of twenty-one things for Lee to complete by the end of the night, suggested mostly by the two of us, but other people can fill in the blanks!"

"I see…" was all Gaara could think to say. 

Before he could think to ask anything, he felt himself getting scooped up out of his seat and cradled against a warm body. He turned to see Lee grinning down at him just before taking the seat and setting Gaara down into his lap.

"What are we talking about?" Lee asked brightly, grinning up at Gaara. 

There was something sweet about the way Lee looked at him through those big, round eyes, as if Gaara was the only person in the room. It made Gaara soften despite the rough night ahead of him. A small smile spread across his lips as he lifted his hand to brush Lee's bangs out of his face.

"Just you. And how incredible you are," Gaara said fondly.

Lee pressed his head against Gaara's chest and grinned even wider.

"That and the super exciting night we have planned ahead!" Tenten cut in to the grossly sappy display in front of her. Neji was on his phone, distinctly not watching. The two of them didn't mind how affectionate Gaara and Lee were with each other, especially since they were both so new to relationships, but every once in awhile when Gaara caught Tenten alone, he would ask if it bothered her. She only ever said that she was glad to see Lee with a happy and equally loving partner, which was all the assurance Gaara needed.

"Yes!" Lee pumped a fist in the air. "I am very excited to have my first drink as well!"

"And worry not--" Tenten patted Gaara's knee and glanced up at him from where he was seated on his throne of a boyfriend. "Not everyone here is going out to the bars."

Gaara let out a sigh he didn't realize he was holding in. "Oh, thank god."

The party went on without a hitch and as time passed, Gaara started brooding less and less, now that he was in good company. It was crazy to think that mere months ago, he was nervous to be in the presence of that incredible trio of dancers and now they were some of his closest friends. The group talked and laughed and Lee spent most of the time holding Gaara close. Eventually the notorious sign came back to Lee once it had made its rounds. He circled his arms around Gaara to hold it up and read it. It was a cute sign complete with Lee's name, a pretty good drawing of some pointe shoes, the aforementioned list, and well wishes from all of Lee's friends on the back. 

"This is quite the comprehensive list..." Gaara muttered. 

There were all sorts of 'bombs' and other lengthy names of what were probably signature shots. Not only were there different types of alcohol to try, but there were many rambunctious actions that Lee had to do, some of which ranged from the likely-to-get-kicked-out, like walking on his hands across the bar top, to the we're-just-in-it-to-harass-Gaara, like having Lee take a shot off of Gaara. The handwriting on that one looked suspiciously like Naruto's...

Things appeared to be coming to a close since it was nearing midnight, so everyone made their last rounds, took some individual pictures with Lee, and told him to get as drunk as possible. By the time everyone had cleared out, the only ones left were Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, and Tenten, as well as Gaara, Naruto, and Lee. 

The group exchanged unsure glances as they prepared to leave the house.

"I don't think I can fit all of you in my car," was the first thing out of Gaara's mouth as he locked the door.

"Don't worry about it! It's not too far," Sakura said with a wave of her hand.

Ino took Sakura's arm and flashed a grin. "We can walk. It'll probably take some time to find parking anyway, so we can just meet you down there."

"We'll come with," Tenten said, volunteering herself and Neji, who gave a slight roll of his eyes, but followed along anyway.

"Cool. We'll see you down there!" Sakura waved and set out with the small group. 

Neji gave a Look just before Gaara turned to see who that left him with. He groaned slightly when he realized he'd be with the worst trio in history--Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji, who were all busy trying to take swings at each other in a half-drunken stupor. Oh, well. At least Lee would be there.

"Ready to go, sweetie?" Lee asked, placing his hands on Gaara's shoulders and rubbing his upper arms in a soothing gesture that eased a bit of tension.

Gaara nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."

The car ride was… fine, so long as Gaara tuned out the three in the back seat. Naruto was unnecessarily sprawled in the back across Shikamaru and Choji's laps and the three were going on about... something, Gaara was doing his best not to focus on the specifics. There seemed to be a couple of insults hurled here and there as well as something about classes. 

"Touch me again and I'm suing," Shikamaru said, followed by a crisp slapping sound. 

"Do not hit each other," Gaara threw back behind him.

"It's not my fault, Choji's takin' up half the damn car!" Naruto yelled back at Shikamaru, completely oblivious to Gaara since he was trying to land another strike.

"Come sit on Santa's lap and show him what you're working with," Choji said in a lascivious tone.

"Oh yeah? Santa got tits like these?" There was a sound of fabric rumpling around, so Gaara could only assume someone was getting touched in a way he'd rather not think about.

"Dude," Choji said. "Santa's got fuckin' breasts."

Lee spoke up a bit too loudly. "I think tonight is going to be really fun!"

That got the boys off topic for awhile as they met Lee with a chorus of "happy birthdays" and leaned toward the passenger seat to pat him on the arm or wherever they could reach. Good, at least they could focus on Lee for a minute while Gaara tried to find parking.

By the time they finally walked out onto the street and met up with the girls (followed by a lot of unnecessary whoops from the boys whose goal for the night seemed to be testing just how loud their voices actually were). 

"First bar!" Lee said, bouncing around excitedly as he slipped the sign over his head and around his neck. He held it up to read, tilting his head this way and that since it was upside-down. "What are we doing first?"

"There's a place around the corner that's pretty good. We'll get you something nice to start!" Tenten took Lee by the hand and the group followed behind her.

Sakura and Ino crept up on either side of Gaara as his boyfriend was whisked away, getting a lesson in How to Handle Your Alcohol.

"You excited for tonight?" Ino asked, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets. Her hair had grown a bit since she shaved it all off, and it was currently styled into a fauxhawk. 

"Lee's excitable enough as it is," Sakura said, adjusting one of the red clips that was keeping a curled strand of pink hair out of her face. "I wonder how crazy he's gonna get when he's under the influence."

"You make it sound like he's going to go berserk…" Gaara said.

"Well, let's just hope he doesn't puke all over the bathroom unlike _somebody,_ " Sakura chided, elbowing Gaara lightly in the ribs.

"That was one time…"

The group made their way to the bar and stepped inside. It wasn't as nauseating as Gaara was expecting and there weren't as many people as he thought. Tenten and Neji sat Lee down at the bar and Tenten made quick work of ordering him a drink, which she refused to let him pay for. That was good. From the looks of the list, tonight was probably gonna be expensive… Gaara laughed as he watched Lee enthusiastically show off his ID.

Gaara made his way over to Lee and company; he nodded his thanks as Tenten scooted over to the adjacent seat so he could sit next to Lee. There was a bright green drink in front of him, which he was busy taking a couple of artsy photos of.

"What'd you get?" Gaara nodded at the drink.

"Midori sour," Tenten answered as she scratched her signature on the receipt. "Figured we'd start him off with something that doesn't taste like shit so he actually enjoys tonight."

"Makes sense," Gaara said, even though it sort of didn't.

"I am going to drink!" Lee shouted to the group and, perhaps with the volume of his voice, everyone else in the bar.

"Wait, let me take a picture of you two--Naruto, move," Tenten said. 

After shooing Naruto away, she held her phone up. Lee snaked his arms around Gaara's waist and flashed a smile while Gaara sort of just leaned against him and turned the corners of his lips up a little. He was never sure what to do in photos. He usually just waited for them to be over and done with. Tenten snapped a few photos and placed her phone on the counter while Lee swirled the glass in front of him a bit apprehensively.

"Those ones are good, Lee," Gaara said in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "I've had one before. Plus it matches your shirt."

Lee beamed at that and bumped Gaara's shoulder with his own in silent thanks. He spun around on the barstool and lifted the glass in the air while Naruto and his motley crew cheered him on. And Lee, never one to half-ass anything in his life, put the glass to his lips and refused to set it down until it was empty. The glass was victoriously slammed against the table so hard, Gaara swore it was going to burst. 

"I did it!!" he yelled, then squeezed Gaara tight, presumably for being there for him--Gaara couldn't be sure.

Tenten let out a laugh, reaching across Gaara to softly punch Lee on the shoulder. "Lee, you didn't have to drink it in one go!"

"Well, at least we know he'll be able to take a shot no problem," Neji said. He turned to the bartender and put in a separate order.

The three laughed and Tenten handed Gaara a pen so he could mark the first thing off of Lee's list. Shortly after, they were presented with three separate shots, a red, blue, and green, which the trio took eagerly.

"This one we do take all at once, 'kay?" Tenten said to Lee. He nodded vigorously.

"Happy birthday, Lee," Neji said, and the three took Lee's first shot as a group. It must have been mixed with something fairly nice because Lee seemed to genuinely be enjoying himself instead of chasing the taste with a grimace.

With two drinks in him, the group went from bar to bar, trying things out, checking things off the list as they traipsed through the downtown area, all while getting Lee more and more alcohol. 

And it wasn't long before Gaara found himself lying flat on his back across the bar while the group hovered around him. This bar in particular was extra dingy and reeked completely of alcohol. Complete with its dim lighting and skeevy personnel, Gaara wasn't sure this was the best idea, but given how the rest of the night was going, he would only have to suffer for the next five to ten minutes before it was on to the next one. 

"We're putting the salt on your neck," Ino said, leaning in close. She placed her hand against Gaara's cheek and turned his head slightly, then licked the thumb on her free hand and made a small line across his neck. Someone else began pouring salt on it just as Ino whispered, "Alright, hold this in your mouth and then don't move."

She held a lime wedge above Gaara's mouth until he bit down against it softly, not before muttering, "Why is it always me…"

"Give it to him, Lee!" Naruto shouted from amongst the group. Shikamaru and Choji quickly joined in with other crude remarks.

"Hiii, sweetheart," Lee said in a sing-song. His cheeks were a little more pink and he was a little more ditzy than usual, but otherwise he wasn't completely gone. He lifted the hem of Gaara's shirt up slightly. "I'm gonna take a shot off of yooou!"

Gaara could only make a sort of "nn-hnn" sound as the shot was placed right at his belt line. He refused to have the shot poured directly into his bellybutton.

"Alright, ready?" Tenten said. "Go!"

The motion was quick as Lee leaned across the bar to swipe up the salt off Gaara's neck with his tongue and he made a hurried line down until he reached the shot glass, wrapping his lips around it, perhaps a bit too expertly, just before throwing his head back to swallow the shot inside. He took the glass out of his mouth, set it down on the counter, and stole the lime from Gaara's mouth, not without kissing him first.

Gaara sat up quickly, surprised that it was over so fast, but relieved nonetheless. It was a little weird for them to be doing something with such strong sexual implications in a public place, but since Lee was drunk and it was in the spirit of the bar crawl, Gaara figured they could both be embarrassed about it later. 

When Lee was finished with the lime, he leaned over and kissed Gaara again, the taste of lime and tequila still fresh on his lips. The rest of the boys (sans Neji) shook Lee around and screeched, as well as some other strangers who had joined in to watch the show. Lee joined the noise-making for a bit while the three girls were crowded around the bar chatting with one another. They had had a couple of drinks between them, but they looked utterly composed compared to the rambunctious group on the other side.

Gaara was trying his best to go unnoticed, as well as not get stepped on, since he was practically shoulder to shoulder with tons of strangers in the cramped space. He felt familiar muscular arms slip over his upper arms and an extra warm cheek pressed against his own.

"Hi, babyyyy," Lee said, nuzzling against Gaara's neck.

"Hi, Lee," Gaara grinned. "Are you feeling alright?"

Lee gave an overly pronounced nod that only really resulted in him squishing his cheek against Gaara's even more. 

"You smell really good…" he said, holding Gaara more tightly. "And you look so cute… Have I told you how much I love you?"

Gaara turned in the circle of Lee's arms and fought the grin forming on his face.

"You have," he replied.

Lee's face fell slightly, but he interrupted himself with a hiccup that made him giggle. "Weeeeellll… have I told you _today_?" 

Once Gaara shook his head, Lee squeezed him tightly and leaned in close enough that their foreheads were touching. Lee was already a very warm person by nature and the alcohol was doing him zero favors. He was practically sweating through his clothes.

"You… are an _angel_. Annnd you look so handsome.. and I could not be more proud of you… and I love you so, so, so much."

"I love you, too," Gaara said as Lee kept rubbing his face against Gaara's like a cat. He started giggling as he moved between smashing their faces together and dotting Gaara's face in kisses.

"You are so cute!!!" Lee shrieked over the music, then planted a loud kiss on his lips. He took Gaara's hands in his own and began bouncing in place. "C'mon. We should dance together. I like when you dance with me…"

Gaara snorted as he danced with his boyfriend, which was really more swaying back and forth while Lee bounced lightly in place and laughed uncontrollably. At least he was just a bit of a loopy, slightly sappy drunk. That would make Gaara's night a little easier.

Well, until "Single Ladies" came on.

Lee's head snapped up in recognition and he looked around frantically.

" _NEJI!!!_ "

Gaara was scooped up and half-thrown over Lee's shoulder as he pushed through the crowd and found his friend, who was already standing with Tenten. Lee set Gaara back on the ground and looked at Neji.

"Clear a space," Neji said, and Gaara already knew what was coming.

The three assembled into a line and, as if regularly rehearsed (which would not be surprising considering Neji's exclusive music taste), performed the dance to the song in perfect sync while being the rest of the bar patrons cheered them on. Gaara stood off to the side where he found Sakura and Ino holding hands, and watched the three go at it. It was surprising how well Lee danced even while he was drunk, and Gaara wasn't sure how he was still so perfectly balanced. But he looked like he was enjoying himself. 

Especially when the three leapt up onto the bar top.

Good god. They were going to get kicked out for sure…

At the other people in the bar seemed to enjoy it. They finished the dance and hugged each other on top of the bar, talking amongst one another and Gaara only looked away for a second before he saw Lee taking another shot. He grimaced slightly, laughed, and lifted his hands above his head as he leaned forward to flip up into a handstand.

"Lee, what are you doing…" Gaara muttered to himself as Sakura and Ino followed him. 

Lee took a couple of steps across the bar on his hands, then kicked over until he was back on his feet. He moved into a prep stance that Gaara immediately recognized and he bolted over to the counter.

"Lee, baby, what are you doing?" Gaara asked him sweetly, trying to hide the discomfort in his voice.

"I walked across the table!!! I gotta check it off my list!!" he said.

The bartender behind him was starting to look a little irritated.

"M'kay, that's good, but why don't you come down now? You can do as many turns as you want outside," Gaara said.

That got Lee to make eye contact and he broke into a wide grin.

"Okay!!" He did a quick chassé into a split leap off the counter and Gaara mouthed an apology to the bartender, then pointed to the door to tell him they were on their way out. Lee clung to Gaara and went back to rubbing their faces together while Gaara told Sakura to round up the rest of the group.

While they waited for everyone else in the cold, Lee was busy alternating between turning on the sidewalk, falling out, and transitioning into a tap routine. Once he lost a rhythm, he would make eye contact with Gaara, run over to nuzzle against his hair, and then repeat the process. This kept up for awhile until Sakura and Ino waved Gaara down.

"They're coming," Sakura said. 

"Hey, we're gonna head out," Ino said, huddling against Sakura for warmth. "Thanks for taking care of everyone!"

"Thanks for coming," Gaara said softly. 

Lee made his way back to Gaara in the middle of his routine, but quickly got distracted by the girls.

"Are you leaaaviiiing?" he asked, then waddled over to hug Sakura. She wrapped her arms around his waist and lifted him up, which made him laugh.

"We are," she said, patting him on the back. "Happy birthday, sweetie, thanks for having us!"

Lee squeezed her harder and Gaara was pretty sure he was close to tears. "Of course! You look so prettyyy! Where did Ino go? She looks pretty too… I have to tell her--"

Ino cracked a smile and waved at him from where she was standing, still right next to Sakura. "I'm right here!"

Lee opened up his arms and Ino joined in the hug, the three spinning around together and laughing. As they continued being sappy together, another group started passing by on the sidewalk and Gaara tried to get out of the way as much as possible until Sakura quickly pointed to one of the girls.

"Lee, look, she's got a sign, too! You have a birthday twin!"

Lee whipped his head around so fast, Gaara swore he was going to get whiplash, and in a matter of seconds, the sidewalk was full of screaming and jumping around between both sets of people as Lee bonded with this random stranger over a statistic. Gaara sighed as he walked over to reign in the chaos just a little bit and heard Lee sobbing as he spoke.

"You are so beautiful!!" he said, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday to _you_!" she said. They were half hugging and both quite intoxicated.

"Gaara! Look! I met someone with the same birthday as me!!" Lee shouted, as if half the downtown area didn't just hear him screaming about it.

"I know, that's very exciting, Lee," Gaara said, making his way over. He glanced at the other group and put a hand on Lee's upper arm to guide him away. "Sorry about him--"

"This is my boyfriend!" Lee said, pulling his arms around Gaara as he went back to nuzzling his face. He seemed to have a real thing about that…

"Lee, they don't need to know--"

"Oh, my goooossssh!!!" the girl shrieked… and then she started crying. "You two are adorable!! You're the cutest couple I've ever seen in my life!"

Gaara offered a quiet "thank you" as Lee jostled him around and proceeded to give his life story to this random girl. Well, she seemed to be into it. Gaara sighed and glanced the other way to see that Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji had finally stepped out of the bar. Naruto appeared to have red lipstick stains across his face and neck.

"Lee. We have to go," Gaara said, interrupting whatever he was trying to talk about now.

"Okay!" he said. "Happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday!" the other girl repeated. They hugged some more and didn't seem to notice they trapped Gaara right in between them until she and her group were on their way.

Somehow after all this conversation, Lee never managed to catch her name…

"Okay, we have to go for real this time," Sakura reminded Lee. "We'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay!" Lee exclaimed. He was a little distracted, so luckily Gaara didn't need to be a witness in another mess of hugs and sobbing, then Sakura and Ino went on their way.

"Hey heyyy," Naruto said, slithering toward Lee.

Gaara turned toward him. "Where the hell were you?"

"Gettin' mad puss, bro," was his reply and suddenly Gaara wished he hadn't asked.

"Alright, what's next on this list," Gaara said, pulling Lee a little closer. He was swaying around and somehow keeping his balance, but the way he was toppling over himself was starting to make Gaara nervous. He took a glance at the sign and started crossing things off that they had previously forgotten.

"I love yooouuuu," Lee said against Gaara's hair, pecking tiny kisses across his scalp like a bird.

"I know."

 _Take a lemon drop_. Did that.

Lee pecked Gaara's head again. "Babe."

 _Walk across the bar top on both hands_. They definitely did that... and then some...

"Babe."

 _Take a drunk selfie with a cop_. Why the fuck would they do that? 

Gaara figured it was probably something Naruto wrote as an excuse to see Sasuke. He vaguely remembered something about his family being in the police force. Gaara crossed it off the list anyway and wrote "no."

Another peck. "Babe."

 _Drunk text the 21st contact in your phone_. Not yet…

"Baby." 

Gaara sighed, looking away from the list. "Yes, Lee?" 

"I love you… Gimme kiss…" he said with a tiny pout. Then he squeezed Gaara tighter and swayed them both around enough that it was throwing Gaara's balance off. He threw his head back dramatically and yelled, "Pleeeeaaaasssse?"

"Okay, fine. C'mere," Gaara said with a small sigh, then kissed Lee quickly. He didn't really like being too affectionate in public, but if a little kiss got him to be quiet for a few seconds, he supposed it was okay.

Lee snorted a laugh and his hand drifted down further, making a b-line straight for Gaara's ass. Luckily Gaara was faster, so he reached behind himself and threaded his fingers with Lee's instead to distract him. Lee was busy pressing kisses to the top of Gaara's head and probably trying to eat his hair, which he'd hopefully regret later. But he didn't really seem to notice now.

"Lee, can I see your phone?" Gaara asked.

"Are we gonna take a pictuuure?" he asked. Now his words were starting to blend together. He pulled his phone out and dangled it around a bit dangerously while making airplane noises. Gaara was almost certain he was going to drop it.

"Maybe in a minute." He took the phone from Lee and sifted through his contacts until he found the twenty-first one. 

_Gai-sensei_.

Of fucking course, that would be just their luck.

 _It's the spirit of the bar crawl_ , Gaara reminded himself.

"Lee, here, you remember Gai? Your teacher?" He handed the phone back. "Text him something nice and then we can go, okay?"

Lee gasped loudly, taking the phone as Gaara rounded up the other three, then suddenly Neji and Tenten finally walked out of the bar. 

"Where the hell were you?" Gaara asked.

Neji rolled his eyes. "Looking for Lee. We weren't sure where he went after the dance, so we were looking all over. Figured he'd be with you but we wanted to make sure he wasn't puking up a storm in the bathroom." He side-eyed Tenten with another roll of his eyes. "And then Tenten had to use the bathroom, which of course took half an hour."

"I don't control those lines, _stupid_!" she said, punching him on the arm. She was about to say something else when she was suddenly interrupted by Lee's voice shouting.

"Gai-sensei!!"

Gaara realized he shouldn't have left him alone… 

The three turned to see Lee swinging himself around a lamppost and instead of texting, oh no, of _course_ he just had to fucking call him. Gaara covered his face with his hands and sighed. It only took about three seconds for Lee to burst into tears while he talked to his instructor on the phone. It was hard to even make out what he was saying because his words were so slurred, but the conversation continued nonetheless.

"We'll handle this," Tenten said, pulling Neji by the wrist to deal with Lee and perhaps explain to Gai why they were calling at 2am.

"Let's go, come on," Gaara said to the boys, who were busy pelting each other with rocks on the sidewalk. It was late enough that he figured the night should be over and he checked the nearest street sign so they could start heading over to where their car was parked.

Gaara shook his head once he heard Shikamaru yell, "Don't make me balltap you!" as he, Naruto, and Choji tried to hit each other some more.

Why the fuck did he get dragged out here with them…?

As Lee wrapped up his tear-filled call, Tenten and Neji patted his back and whispered reassuring words to him while he lamented and cried. The two helped lift him up from where he had ended up sitting on the sidewalk and Tenten pointed to Gaara.

"Lee, look! Who's that?" she asked in a tone of voice that was not unlike talking to a dog.

Lee tossed his arms up when he saw Gaara and shouted his name as he rushed over to hug him, almost as if he hadn't remembered seeing him all night.

"Hello, love," Gaara mumbled. Lee started running his hands through Gaara's hair and making questionable sound effects, so at least he was focused on something.

"We should probably head home now," Tenten said. "Think you can handle him?"

"Let's hope," Gaara said just as Lee started crying again.

"I love you so much…" he whispered.

Gaara sighed as he leaned back against his mess of a boyfriend. "I love you, too."

Tenten shook her head and laughed. "Alright, we'll see you soon. Don't stay out too late!"

"I think we're past the point of no return…" Gaara replied.

She snickered in lieu of a response. "Bye, Lee! See you in class! … Maybe!"

"Byyyeeee!" he said, waving his arm in such a wide arc it moved his whole body and Gaara's along with it.

Neji waved goodbye and the two were shortly off.

"Naruto," Gaara called, then felt Lee's head bonk against his own full force. "Ow--babe, stop." Lee giggled, then mumbled something about Gaara being cute. Gaara rolled his eyes and called back to Naruto. "We're heading back, come on."

Naruto sighed dramatically and got the other two to cooperate and start following along. Good. Gaara could take the boys home, bring Naruto and Lee back to the house, get Lee showered and hydrated, and then let him knock out.

"Bro, let's do shotskis!" Naruto shouted, pointing a finger at a bar they were about to pass. "It's on the list!"

Gaara swore a blood vessel was about to burst. "No, let's not--"

"I can do more shots! You watch me!" Lee threw over his shoulder, then disappeared. The four guys bolted off, flashed their ID's to the guy by the door, then ran inside while Gaara shuffled after them.

By the time he finally got inside, the bartender was filling their glasses and the boys were being rowdy as ever. Naruto seemed to be egging Lee on and he was way too into it.

"Lee, can we please go home?" Gaara asked, resting his forehead against his boyfriend's warm back.

Lee looked around, confused as he tried to locate Gaara, then smiled when he looked down and found him.

"Gaara!! I missed you!" he shouted. He seemed to keep forgetting that Gaara had been there all night.

"Me too…" Gaara said softly.

Choji reached across the others and clapped Lee on the shoulder to get his attention. "Lee, get over here, we're doing this!"

The four grouped up and did a countdown just before downing all of their shots at the same time and letting out victorious yells when they slammed the ski down on the counter. 

"Man, tonight's been great. We totally should've invited Kiba and Shino."

Lee's face fell briefly. "W… We didn't…?"

"Nah, Kiba said he couldn't make it and, uh, Shino…" Naruto scratched his head. "I think we just… forgot to mention it."

Well, that was enough for Lee to burst into tears, not for the first time that night. Gaara sighed as he led him out of the bar and ignored everyone around who was staring. He just wanted the night to end as fast as possible.

The other three followed them out, slightly confused, but tried to help Gaara calm him down. 

"Come on, Lee, let's go home," Gaara said, holding Lee's hands. "Don't you want to go to bed? We can apologize later. By the time you see them, it'll still be your birthday. You can do something then."

"Okay," Lee sniffled, letting Gaara lead him by the wrist. The trio followed him, silently hitting each other again and whispering "way to go" sarcastically for making Lee cry.

Gaara looked over his shoulder at Lee. "Do you feel sick at all? I don't want you to throw up in the car."

Lee shook his head hard, then he stumbled on the sidewalk, so Gaara pulled Lee's arm around his shoulder and held him up as best he could with their few inches of height difference.

When the three got back to the car, Lee kept muttering to himself about how he was going to send Shino a long apology letter. This was probably going to be a topic of conversation for the next three days if Lee remembered it enough…

Gaara looked toward Shikamaru since he was probably the most sober, but one could never tell. "I'll take you and Choji home and then I'll deal with these two."

Everyone gave him a thumbs-up in response and Gaara set out on his way. There was more hitting, shouting, and uncontrollable giggling than the first time.

"Next person who tries to hit me is getting kissed," Naruto shouted.

"Do it. Pussy," Shikamaru said.

Gaara sighed, then looked over at Lee, whose eyes were half closed. There were still tear tracks running down his cheeks, but he looked like he was about to fall asleep pretty soon. That was good, hopefully he'd knock out as soon as they got home.

The drive wasn't too far for them to drop off Shikamaru and Choji since they lived on campus, but it involved Lee and Naruto getting out of the car to say goodbye to them. Lee tried to join in on the punching games, but Gaara quickly put it to a stop, since Lee would likely get too into the fights and knock somebody out. He was a fantastic dancer, but it made his body so solid that it hurt sometimes even when Gaara accidentally bumped into him.

Lee and Naruto finally got into the car, but for some reason they both moved into the backseat and sprawled all across, wrapped in each other's arms. Lee's checklist sign was discarded on the floor, somehow still in tact with only a few minor stains.

"Lee…" Naruto mumbled. "You've got a real hot bod." He gave Lee's abs a hearty thwack.

"Thank you! I dance… every day…" Lee replied with a yawn. Gaara glanced into his rearview mirror and saw that Lee's eyes were closed, so at least he was running out of energy.

"Lee…" Naruto slapped his head against Lee's chest. "I know you're taken… but I love you."

Lee sat up and threw his arms around Naruto. Sure enough the tears were back and Gaara got tired all over again.

"I love you, too!" he cried.

Gaara continued driving while they talked about how much they loved each other. He turned the music up by mistake while some eighties anthem played on the radio, which only made the two wholesome, drunken idiots gasp and start screaming the lyrics at the top of their lungs the whole drive home. Even though Gaara was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, that still made him smile a little. At least Lee was happy crying now.

Once Gaara pulled up to the house, he stepped out into the cold and opened up the door to the back seat where the two were going back and forth saying "I love you" to each other. Lee eventually took Gaara's hand and was dragged out of the car with his body half draped over Gaara's. Naruto stumbled after and somehow managed to shut the door.

"Noooo, Gaaraaaaa!" Lee did a few little hops to keep up with Gaara as they made their way to the front door. "Don't be sad, I love you, tooooo!"

"I'm not sad--"

"Yeah, Gaara, we both do!" Naruto joined in, throwing himself against Gaara's other side. "I love you!"

"I know, I know." Gaara struggled to fish his keys out of his pocket with the weight of the two boys all over him.

"Lemme kiss you better." Lee leaned forward and gave Gaara a sloppy half-kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, dude, lemme kiss ya," said Naruto, which made Gaara back away immediately. 

"Okay, that's enough."

The three pushed through the front door and Naruto made it as far as taking off his shoes and faceplanting onto the living room couch. He was asleep in what seemed like half a second.

Gaara adjusted Lee against his body as he pushed the door shut and locked it with his free hand. He dragged Lee, who was still a giggling mess, down the hall.

"You're really sweaty, we're gonna get you in the shower, okay?" Gaara said.

Lee shook his shoulders in a little excited half dance. "Yaaaay!"

The two went into the bathroom and Gaara rolled up his sleeves and started up the shower while Lee struggled to get out of his clothes, which really only resulted in another bout of crying. He nearly gave up and jumped into the shower with half of his clothes still on, but Gaara quickly helped him with more effort than he wished he'd needed.

Lee seemed to enjoy being in the warm water and kept singing to himself while Gaara was just glad they had a removable shower head. That allowed him to sit on the outside of the tub to scrub and rinse a Lee who refused to stand up, which Gaara was silently thankful for. He couldn't handle the idea of his drunk boyfriend slipping and injuring himself in the shower, ruining his shot at being a professional dancer like he'd always wanted just because he had a single slip up with alcohol on his twenty-first birthday.

As Gaara scrubbed Lee's arms with soap, he started thinking about the future and how nice it might be to drink with Lee (in moderation) during fancy date night dinners, which would hopefully continue to happen by the time they got married. He blinked a couple of times as the thought passed, then shook it off as he went to rinse.

"Here," he handed the shower head to the drunken mess who, despite tonight's events, he hoped would be his future husband. "Hold this for me, dear."

Lee took the task like it was a mission and held it so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Please don't spray me," Gaara added.

Gaara moved on to clean the rest of Lee's body and, from where he was holding the water, things seemed to be going well… at least until Lee dropped the shower head and started crying again. Good lord…

"What's wrong?" Gaara asked softly, turning Lee's face toward his as the waterworks started up again. "Why are you crying?" He neglected adding "again" to that sentence.

"We forgot to invite Shino…" Lee said with a sniffle.

Gaara sighed. This again? He never cared much for the guy anyway, so he really wasn't sure what to say, but he didn't like to see Lee cry.

"I know, baby, but we can always have another party," Gaara tried to reassure him. Of course they could. Naruto was the party host of the century now, so they'd probably be hosting cast parties and birthday celebrations until the end of time.

"But he didn't even know…" Lee reached over the bathtub to hug Gaara and started dripping water all over the bathroom floor. Gaara's shirt was getting soaked.

"It's okay." Gaara hugged him back and gave him a tiny kiss on the cheek as he pulled away. "We can worry about it tomorrow. Let's finish cleaning you up and then go to bed, alright?"

Lee nodded, but the crying continued for several minutes and he ended up in the fetal position in the tub for awhile after Gaara shut the water off, which wasn't very helpful at all. He honestly could have covered him in a towel and left him in the tub for the night, but that wasn't really a "good boyfriend-worthy" move. So, he did his best to scoop his wet, naked, hyper emotional Lee out of the shower, which really was more of him rolling out onto the floor. Gaara toweled him down, and covered the parts he'd be very embarrassed about later, before they stepped out of the hallway and into Gaara's room. 

The fact that he hadn't thrown up at all was a miracle. 

Lee flopped down onto the bed, partly stumbling along the way, completely naked and turning his nose up at the prospect of putting his clothes on. It took Gaara a couple of tries, but he at least managed to get Lee into some sleep shorts with a fair bit of wrestling until Lee decided he was too sleepy to fight. Gaara shut the light off and crawled into bed with Lee, who immediately formed an octopus-like hold on Gaara's body and tucked his face into his neck.

"... Love you…" Lee mumbled. 

He was shockingly warm, even with the blanket only partly draped over him, so Gaara felt a little bad about trying to force a sweater over his head. The alcohol hadn't quite worn off and he was still radiating heat. But that ended up being a nice bonus for Gaara because their natural temperatures worked out so that Gaara's icy hands were instantly warmed by Lee's natural body heat. And an extra warm Lee was also an extra cuddly Lee.

"I love you, too," Gaara answered with a tiny kiss to Lee's damp hair.

He watched Lee adjust until he was comfortable and in a matter of minutes, he was fast asleep and snoring lightly against Gaara's chest. Gaara smiled as he lightly ran his nails along the curve of Lee's spine, thinking about how much he loved this adorable, drunk mess.

"Happy birthday, Lee," Gaara whispered softly against his scalp, then kissed it again.

As Gaara drifted off, he knew one thing was certain: he was never doing a sober bar crawl ever again.


End file.
